Chapter 38: Four Rounds of Sparring After a Year

  Inside the Fire Dragon Cauldron, the flames did not intensify, but imperceptibly, they condensed and solidified. At this time, the Fire Dragon Cauldron also started to hum with a low buzzing sound.

  "A clang." The Huo Long Ding opened, and a round, blue dan medicine appeared before Lu Shao Yu. A rich medicinal fragrance instantly filled the entire secret chamber.

  "Give it to me." Lu Shao's handprint changed again, and the spiritual power in his hand condensed into two flames, which burst out instantly and wrapped around the green pill. In the Fire Dragon Cauldron, a flame also burst out and wrapped around the green pill. As the three flames enveloped it, the green pill began to tremble within the flames.

  Lu Shao's face turned even paler, this exhaustion was also fatal, but at this time, it wasn't the time to rest yet, one mistake and all previous efforts would be in vain.

  "Give me condensation." Lu Shaoyou shouted, and the three flames wrapped around him. His soul power was in perfect control of everything. In the secret room, a fragrance of medicine suppressed all the elixirs.

  "Hoo-hoo." The blue dan medicine, enveloped by the three flames, suddenly became even more violent. The surface of the dan medicine began to show fine cracks, as if it was about to split apart.

  "Damn it." Lu Shaoyou's heart sank, he couldn't afford to fail.

  "It's over." Lu Shaoyou gritted his teeth, and the seal in his hand burst forth with a surge of spiritual energy from his brain, along with his soul force pouring out in full force.

  Under the control of Soul Power, in an instant, the temperature of the three flames began to rise rapidly. At a certain moment, finally, with Lu Shao's eyes as if he had shed his burden, he wrapped that green pill into it.

  The surface cracks on the blue medicinal pill began to slowly merge and disappear, the flames on the fire dragon furnace jumped and danced, but Lu Shao was unaware that in a certain room, old servant Nan Shu sat cross-legged, his expression always worried, but at this moment he finally opened his eyes, with a hint of surprise and mostly joy.

  "This kid, his innate talent is also extremely good, didn't expect that after cultivating both spiritual and martial arts, his soul power would greatly increase, and he can already refine a second-grade elixir on his own so quickly. In the entire Spiritual Martial Continent, there are probably not many people with such talent." Nan Shu smiled lightly, then immediately returned to his usual old and frail appearance.

  In the secret room, the handprint changed, and the green elixir began to rotate in the midst of three flames, emitting a faint glow.

  "Give me the seal." Lu Shao's hand changed, and his spiritual power surrounded him. A wave of ripples rose from his body, and at this moment, the three flames were suppressed and converged, then wrapped around the faint light and merged into the green elixir.

  "Hmph……" A blue pill with a faint yellow glow fell into Lu Shaoyou's hand, and he grasped the pill tightly as his entire body went limp and collapsed to the ground of the secret chamber. He was panting heavily, his chest constantly heaving.

  "Success, Yuan Dan." Lying on the ground, gazing at the cyan-red dan medicine in his hand, Lu Shao (You) revealed a smile. This ordinary second-grade dan medicine, Yuan Dan, was generally priced around two hundred gold coins or so, several times more expensive than first-grade dan medicine.

  "There's still one more, continue." Lu Shaoyou got up, put away the Xuan Yuan Dan in his hand, and sat down cross-legged to meditate. This near-collapse consumption, at this time of meditation, Lu Shaoyou felt that the spiritual energy inside his body not only increased a bit but also became more condensed.

  After several hours, Lu Shaoyou opened his eyes, and the pupils in his eyes were even more pitch-black and clear than before.

  "Continue to refine." Lu Shaoyou smiled bitterly, in order to increase his own strength and repay his debts, he must work hard now.

  Above the Qingyun Town, the year-end is approaching, every household hangs lanterns high, everywhere is decorated with lanterns and couplets, a joyful scene. The Lu family is no exception, each courtyard is swept clean, and many red lanterns are hung in the courtyard, looking very festive.

  In the Lu family, apart from the New Year's celebration, there is another joyful event. After the ancestral worship during the Chinese New Year, the young generation of the clan will participate in a competition within the clan. The two strongest individuals will represent the Lu family and participate in the triennial competition among various families in Qingyun Town. The top five winners will have the opportunity to enter the Cloud Sun Sect and become its disciples.

  Yunyang Sect accepts a new batch of disciples every three years, and it just so happens that this year is one of them, which is also what many people are looking forward to.

  If one were to become a direct disciple of the Yunyang Sect, that would be something everyone dreams of. The status of a direct disciple of the Yunyang Sect is much higher than that of an ordinary disciple. A direct disciple of the Yunyang Sect, even if they were in Qingyun Town, would be treated with courtesy by the head of a large family and would not dare to be neglectful.

  As the year draws to a close, young people from all branches of the Lu family rush back home. The elderly are also brought back. They come for two reasons: one is to pay respects to their ancestors and the other is to see the excitement. Nobody knows which two will represent the Lu family in the competition this time.

  Everyone in the Lu family was busy, and the servants were all rushing around. Lu Xiaobai had been promoted to be the butler and was relatively relaxed, becoming the object of envy for many of the other servants. Many of the maids in the front yard were secretly sending flirtatious glances his way, making Lu Xiaobai feel a little itchy in his heart. However, he didn't dare to act rashly, as he had become a warrior and his standards had risen significantly. Suddenly, he felt that Xiao Cui was no longer as beautiful as she used to be in his eyes.

  In the secret room, Lu Shao had a layer of luster surrounding his body, his hands constantly changing hand seals, and his chest rising and falling. His breathing was also becoming more and more stable.

  But at this time, in the secret room, under the illumination of Lu Shao's body, the space was like a stone suddenly thrown into a calm lake, breaking the tranquility. It rippled quietly, and a strand of visible energy flow seeped out from the light, then transformed into countless energy threads, surging towards Lu Shao.

  These countless energy threads, wrapped around Lu Shaoyou's body, looked at with unspeakable mystery and profundity. At this time, in Lu Shaoyou's body, these energies were refined by the Yin-Yang Spiritual Martial Formula into true qi and spiritual power, which separately entered Lu Shaoyou's dantian, qihai, and brain sea.

  But the true energy that can be condensed is much more than its spiritual energy, it can only slightly enhance the spiritual power.

  These energies, in Lu Shaoyou's body meridians, were flowing rapidly, and the meridians were also expanding rapidly at this time. Even on the meridians, Lu Shaoyou felt that some small cracks had appeared, and from these cracks, a brilliant light was seeping out. The pain within, Lu Shaoyou could only grit his teeth to endure.

  All of this, Nan Shu had already told Lu Shaoyou earlier. When swallowing and refining the elixir, the stronger the elixir is, the stronger the energy will be. If the meridians can't withstand it, they will expand, but if the energy exceeds the maximum tolerance of the meridians, then the meridians will break and one will die.

  So now, even if he had a fifth-grade elixir or sixth-grade elixir in his hand, Lu Shao would not dare to take it. This was simply playing with his own life. Moreover, these fifth-grade and sixth-grade elixirs were also treasure-level existences throughout the entire Spiritual Martial Continent, and he couldn't get them. If he wanted to refine them himself, he still didn't have enough strength.

  Also, at some point, the pores on Lu Shaoyou's skin surface were connected to countless energy threads, and he was absorbing those energies wholeheartedly. At this time, his breath was also slowly rising imperceptibly.